First baseman Chris Marrero is putting together a fine season for Syracuse with eight home runs and 27 RBI to go along with a .289 batting average. He has hits in his last seven games and six RBI during that stretch.

Pitcher of the Week

Lefty reliever Fernando Abad has yet to allow an earned run through six appearances in the month of May. He has shown versatility, pitching as much as 2 1/3 innings in relief for Syracuse and has a team-best 1.17 ERA this season. His 1.04 WHIP through 15 1/3 innings also stands out.

Nice report Chase and thanks for doing this. I have not seen one National's minor league game but do love that sooner or later some of these young men will make an impact, either by trade or actual production.Drew gives us regular reports and of course NatsJack has actually watched these guys for a month in spring training. We have another poster who was raving about our AAA club being on or above the level of the Astro's. I understand that team production in the minors is not nearly as important as developing skill sets for the next level but it shocks me that a team that was supposed to be so strong is in last place in their own league. I guess the Astro's would be even further down? OK, enough bear poking, on to winning a series and maybe even taking over first place!! Go Nats!!

I guess the Astro's would be even further down? OK, enough bear poking, on to winning a series and maybe even taking over first place!! Injuries to key players and moving Chris (the international League is FEASTING on the 82 mph fastball! Absolutely FEASTING!) Young into the rotation. That certainly has contributed to the downward spiral. That and a poor fielding infield. sjm308 aren't YOU a HUGE Chris Young fan?Give them Rendon and replace Young with Karns and then let's talk.

No Peric – I actually was one of the few that wanted to keep LannEn and also tried to rally the troops when Haren was struggling. My daughter-in-law is a huge Mets fan so I tend to go the opposite way on ex-Mets.I hate to say it but I was very very excited in the first week or so of AAA. I looked at that lineup and all of them were crushing the ball. I have always liked Mr. Brown and can't wait till he gets healthy. I actually agreed with you in March/April and was just being a pokey type person. I know you forgive me.

Pitcher of the Week23-year-old right-hander Blake Schwartz has made four starts with the P-Nats since being promoted from Hagerstown in late April. He has been even better at high Single-A with a 0.82 ERA through 22 innings, allowing zero homers so far with a .133 opponent’s batting average.This is encouraging! I know nothing about him but any player that takes a promotion and keeps improving could be one of those real pleasant surprises.Does anyone know what he throws?

I love Rendon and I'm excited for him to return to the big leagues. But those of you who think he's the cure to what ails this lineup might be in for a rude awakening. If you don't believe me, check the minor league stats of some of the other 3B superprospects in recent years. Pedro Alvarez, Mike Moustakas, Brett Lawrie- all of them absolutely raked in AA or AAA at Rendon's age or younger. None of them have been very productive in the majors yet.I don't mean to be Debbie Downer. I just worry that Harper has spoiled us a bit and our expectations might be out of whack. Big league pitchers are really good. Hitting these guys is nothing like hitting at AA or AAA.

For everyone of the dud 3rd baseman you name I can think of plenty of 3rd base prospects named RZim, David Wright, Miggy Cabrera, Chase Headley, Longoria, Braun and Alex Gordon who are all offensive stars and started as 3rd baseman in the Minors and some of them like Braun and Gordon are currently playing other positions.There are burnouts in all positions and Moustakas is just another Royals player who has struggled at the big league level after being a top prospect.

Absolutely true, GoSM. Otherwise there wouldn't be any good 3B in the league! But even on your list of the best of the best there are guys who struggled for a short time, or even a long time. It took Headley until his age 28 season to crack .775 in OPS. Alex Gordon's breakout came at 27, although he was decent in his second season.My point was that we shouldn't assume that Rendon's bat will immediately provide a big boost at the major league level. In fact when you look at the similarly regarded 3B prospects of the last 5-10 years, it looks like his chances are well under 50/50 this early in his career. Emphasis on "this early in his career."

Rendon has a much higher stepping-off point than many of the names cited above. So I presume him to be much more likely to be an immediate contributor. Nobody here would argue with .270, would they? Besides, the Nats are desperate (or oughta be).

I suspect Rendon will be in Syracuse before long. He doesn't have much to prove at AA, other than durability — which is important in his case.Once Rendon moves up, it will be interesting to see how the Nats shuffle the lineups. William and Mary product Will Rhymes likely will lose some ABs.

Theophilus T. S. said…"Rendon has a much higher stepping-off point than many of the names cited above."Not true. All of the names I listed were ranked as high or higher than Rendon in prospect rankings and all put is similar AA numbers. Moustakas' OPS in his final AA season was 1.100- at age 21. In Lawrie's combined A+ and AAA season at age 21 he posted a 1.060 OPS. And remember those guys were younger than Rendon when they did that.I'm not saying he will put up numbers similar to Moustakas and Alvarez and Lawrie. I just see a lot of Nats fans who seem to be assuming that monster AA numbers at 22 mean he's ready to post an .800+ OPS in the majors right now, and that's not always how it goes.Others have made similar observations about the Trout/Harper effect. In fact on his podcast Jason Parks discussed it specifically with respect to Nats fans outsized expectations for Rendon because they were lucky enough to experience the rookie seasons of Harper and Strasburg.

One more thing I want to clarify. I'm talking about his immediate impact here. If I had to bet on Rendon's career over the next 5-7 years I'd bet big on him. I just think expectations for 2013 and possibly 2014 should be tempered a bit, both for the kid's sake and for the sake of our sanity as Nats fans.

>I just think expectations for 2013 and possibly 2014 should be tempered a bit, both for the kid's sake and for the sake of our sanity as Nats fans.Agreed for reasons you articulated well, bowdenball. I do think it bodes well that he had started adapting by the time he went back down, but, of course, the MLB is at least as likely to adapt right back.

My feeling they won't move Zim to 1st this year unless Laroche has a major injury. Id be surprised they'd trade Laroche in the First year of his contract. Since they're not playing Rendon at second base it probably means that they do intend to use Zimmerman at first base in the future. My conclusion is that this is the last year that Zimmerman can prove he can be a reliable third baseman. They wont make him learn a new position on the spot this year but they might start doing it in spring training.

I hate to keep harping on this, but RZim is no longer hitting with power. No longer has the bat speed. He plays in a power position. Almost all his hits are coming off of inside or offspeed pitches and they are mostly singles. He only has one HR and and a few doubles in about 100 PA's. Unless he begins to come back with some power putting him at 1B would be a mistake. His throwing is the tip of the iceberg.

If Werth doesn't go back on the DL but isn't ready to come back, we'll effectively be playing with a 23-man roster if Det also avoids the DL, with one of the outfielders playing through a recovering injury. So without backup Eury, we'll have 1 1/2 starting outfielders, Bernadina, and outfield play from Lombo and Moore.And if Stammen or (oy) Duke has to spot-start, whichever one it is will be unavailable for a lot of days before and after and the bullpen will be short-handed, so we'll have to hope all the other starters are really on their games for the next week or so…

Exactly right bowdenball @1:43. I'm really hoping that Rendon will have a long and productive career for the Nats, but the idea that he's going to take the league by storm this year or next seems fanciful. Someone here was actually predicting that Rendon would be voted an All Star next year, something that eluded Bryce Harper. I did a little research and found that in the history of the game there have been only 22 rookie position player All Stars (19 pitchers) from the NL and 37 (21 pitchers) from the AL. That's a total of 98 rookies who have been on the rosters. 22 players were starters, but only 10 position players in the years when the fans selected the starters (1947-57 and 1970-present). Their names: Richie Ashburn (1948), Eddie Kazak (1949), Walt Dropo(1950), Frank Robinson (1956), Wally Joyner (1976), Sandy Alomar, Jr. (1990), Ichiro Suzuki(2001), Hideki Matsui (2003), Geovany Soto(2008), Kosuke Fukudome (2008). Jason Heyward was selected as a starter in 2010, but didn't play because of injury. So let's not go overboard. It would be a really tall order for Rendon to be voted in as an All Star.

Emdash, I don't think Werth has come off the DL yet. (He wasn't planning to until Saturday.) He can stay on it until he's ready to return and Perez can stay on the 25 man for now. We don't lose a lot by keeping Det on the DL, but if he has to miss more than one start, they could back date him to the DL and bring up another reliever if they want Stammen or Duke to take his rotatiton spot for a few starts.

I am fairly ignorant, next to many of my imaginary friends, here, but Rendon seemed to be figgering it out, in his short stay, up here. If circumstances conspire to get him a lot if reps, later on this year, I just have a feeling none of us will be disappointed…..

Ah, for some reason I thought the 15-day DL was sort of automatic, i.e. you're on it 15 days and then have to be reinstated or placed on the DL again. If not I'm glad to be wrong.Hope Bryce doesn't play right in San Francisco if Werth isn't back yet. Lots of weird fencing, angles, hard walls over something that looks like brick. A bad scene all around.

If Detwiler misses a start (Mon.?) during this string of consecutive games, there won't be any off days to rest the bullpen, so I don't expect them to dip into the pen for a starter. If they think he'll miss one start then right now the choice would be Maya (yeah, I know); if two or more then I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Karns a shot. Rosenbaum would be logical if they were looking for a LH but he's not on the 40-man and they would burning one of his options for no particular reason.

As I understand it, you can stay on the 15 day DL as long as you want. 15 days is the minimum time before you can return. You can be replaced on the 25-man roster, but you stay on the 40-man roster. If they want to clear a spot on the 40-man, you can be moved to the 60 day DL.

But if Det isn't DLed and no roster moves are made, I don't think they'd be able to call up someone for a spot start, right? They'd have to take someone else off the 25-man for that to happen, and that seems kind of unlikely.Thanks, Section 222, that's good to know.

"One more thing I want to clarify. I'm talking about his immediate impact here. If I had to bet on Rendon's career over the next 5-7 years I'd bet big on him. I just think expectations for 2013 and possibly 2014 should be tempered a bit, both for the kid's sake and for the sake of our sanity as Nats fans."Good grief. Expectations are that he would be a massive improvement over the current 2nd base incumbent. If he hits .240 he will have accomplished that. If you are concerned about guys not performing at the ML level, then tell me why we should keep the one hitting .175 rather than the guy who already hit 50 – 60 points above that in the MLs when he had the chance.The issue isn't whether he would dupllicate what Trout did last year. That's a red herring. The real issue is which player would give the Nats the best chance to win. No-brainer. Now, if he was worse than Espinosa, after coming up, I would really be disappointed. If you really think he can't hit .240, at least, then let's hear your reasoning.In Espinosa's first stint with the Nats, he hit .214 after his September 2010 call-up. The Nats handed him the 2nd base job the following spring.My expectations are that Rendon would do better than that, initially, much better, really, and would just get better from then on. The sooner he gets to the bigs, the sooner he can get started. Rendon is wasted in AA, just as Espinosa is a wasted roster spot on the 25-man, let alone in the starting lineup.You are underestimating Rendon's talent, IMO. He has raked everywhere he has played. His rating as a prospect would be much higher than it currently is if he had not been injured last year. Comparing Rendon to other prospects is fruitless. He has talents as a hitter that few ever have had, past or present.And if you are correct, and he bombs, then they can just send him back down. BFD. Bringing him up now is a very low risk bet with a very high potential payoff. The Nats have nothing to lose by doing it, and, potentially, a helluva lot to gain.

Laddie Blah Blah-I don't want to get into a big internet argument in the middle of an interesting discussion. However, I don't think you understood what I was saying at all.You seem to have confused me saying that I think expectations should be tempered with respect to Rendon with me saying that I don't think he'll hit as well as Espinosa is currently hitting. Those two things have almost nothing to do with each other. I don't think I even mentioned Espinosa's name in my comments here. You're arguing with someone else there, not me.The mention of Trout was in reference to something I've heard many times from many baseball media types that since Trout and Harper arrived, fan expectations for prospects seem to have gotten a little out of control. I obviously wasn't saying that people expect Rendon to match those guys. Nobody in their right mind would think that. Although I must compliment you on the "red herring" line!As far as the rest of it, we'll simply have to agree to disagree on many, many things. Most prominently whether batting average is the best way to evaluate a baseball player's contributions and value.

"Exactly right bowdenball @1:43. I'm really hoping that Rendon will have a long and productive career for the Nats, but the idea that he's going to take the league by storm this year or next seems fanciful."Red herring time. He does not have to "take the league by storm" to give the team a better chance to win than Espinoza. Journeyman-level performance would do that.If you expect that he would not even perform at a level significantly higher than Espinosa (not much of a bar, there), they could just send him back down. What's the downside to making a switch? Trout stank as a rookie and the As sent him back down, remember? No harm done, there. The Yankees sent Mantle back down his rookie year, too. There is no downside to giving the kid a shot, and a very big upside.You and Bowden are saying he would be a failure if he didn't duplicate what Trout did last year? If not, then what is your point? If you believed your own argument, you would be urging the Nats to send Espinos down, right now, because he has shown, indisputably, that he is already much more of a failure than what you predict for Rendon.If you think Rendon should stay in AA because he MIGHT fail in the bigs (or not take the league by storm, whatever), then why not argue that Espinosa be sent down because he has actually failed, and has done so on a consistent basis?Be consistent. Make sense.

As an example of outsized expectations:"He has talents as a hitter that few ever have had, past or present."If experts who know way more about baseball prospects and about Rendon than you and I saw him that way, he would have been drafted prior to #6 overall and ranked higher than the late teens or 20s in preseason prospect rankings, regardless of his injury problems. I read the article comparing him to Aaron too. But it does nobody any good for fans to take an interesting swing comparison and apply it to expectations of production.

"You seem to have confused me saying that I think expectations should be tempered with respect to Rendon with me saying that I don't think he'll hit as well as Espinosa is currently hitting."What expectations? And that wasn't the main thrust of your remarks. You would leave the kid in AA because, in your opinion, expectations are too high, or something.Why is that a sufficient reason to leave him in AA? If that is not what you think, then what is your reasoning for leaving him there? And who said BA is the only criteria for evaluating a player's value. i sure didn't.

Laddie Blah Blah said…Laddie Blah Blah said… "You seem to have confused me saying that I think expectations should be tempered with respect to Rendon with me saying that I don't think he'll hit as well as Espinosa is currently hitting.""What expectations? And that wasn't the main thrust of your remarks. You would leave the kid in AA because, in your opinion, expectations are too high, or something.Why is that a sufficient reason to leave him in AA? If that is not what you think, then what is your reasoning for leaving him there? And who said BA is the only criteria for evaluating a player's value. i sure didn't."I have no idea where you're getting ANY of this. I didn't mention Espinosa's name until you did, nor did I say he should stay in AA.

"Be consistent. Make sense."Oh, Internet, I love you. You give the best advice.No, but seriously, I don't see how tempering expectations regarding Rendon has anything to do with Espinosa whatsoever.I sense that folks think Rendon will cure what ails our offense, and I agree with bowdenball that this expectation could easily set people up for disappointment. If he comes up and is simply moderately productive out of the gate, that would be fantastic. But, it wouldn't carry an offense that is almost universally slumping as was recently the case.

"As an example of outsized expectations:"He has talents as a hitter that few ever have had, past or present."That's my opinion, and, in case you have not noticed, that opinion has been validated by the kid's on field performance. Where is the data to support your contention that expectations for him are too high? You are entitled to your own opinion, but mine are supported by facts. Let's see the facts you are using to back up your opinion."If experts who know way more about baseball prospects and about Rendon than you and I saw him that way, he would have been drafted prior to #6 overall and ranked higher than the late teens or 20s in preseason prospect rankings, regardless of his injury problems."Really. Don't you know he was rated by the experts to be the no. 1 prospect in his draft class, and considered the best hitter to come out in years? The Nats had him rated as the best prospect, as well. I thought everyone who followed baseball knew that he fell to the Nats because of concerns over his history of injury. In fact, people on this board still talk about that. His coming out at no. 6 had absolutely nothing to do with how he was rated by the experts.The interesting thing about his pre-season rating, this year, is that it is not based on anything other than how highly those same experts still think of him, despite his actual performance in his first year as a pro. He ended up hitting in the low .200s last year, and only played in a few dozen games, yet he was rated as the Nats very best prospect in the preseason, and as one of the top 50 prospects in the minors by anyone taking the trouble to compile a list.I can't believe you don't know that. You are reaching, now.There is no good reason to keep Rendon in AA, and you have yet to articulate one.

Laddie Blah Blah said…"There is no good reason to keep Rendon in AA, and you have yet to articulate one."Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I also haven't said he should be kept in AA. You're arguing with a figment of your imagination here, not with me. I think it's best we both move on. I think my ACTUAL point has been made.

Rendon most likely would have been the #1 overall pick if not for his injury in college.I really think he is a special player with excellent plate discipline which you don't see in players of his age. The scouts feel he doesn't panic in 2 strike counts and the only concern with him is staying within his game as they said at times he confuses himself for a power hitter and tries to lengthen his swing. His best game is when his power comes from gap line drives as a top doubles hitter.

"No, but seriously, I don't see how tempering expectations regarding Rendon has anything to do with Espinosa whatsoever."I don't, either. So why does Rendon have to stay in AA. Because of "expectations?" I mean, make sense."I sense that folks think Rendon will cure what ails our offense, and I agree with bowdenball that this expectation could easily set people up for disappointment."Uh, so what? What has that got to do with anything? Rendon should stay in AA because he may be a disappointment to some people? Make sense."If he comes up and is simply moderately productive out of the gate, that would be fantastic. But, it wouldn't carry an offense that is almost universally slumping as was recently the case."Straw man. No one is saying he will carry the offense. Not I, at least. The issue, to me, is who will give the Nats the better chance to win. That's why they play the game. You may think they are better off with Espinosa than Rendon. That's fine. You are entitled to your opinion, and it looks like Davey agrees with you. if that's what you think, just say so. You can make a reasonable argument to that effect, and I would respect any such reasoned argument.Keeping Rendon in the minors should be determined on the merits, not because some people have high expectations of him. People had even higher expectations of Harper last year, remember? I don't recall anyone suggesting that Harper be kept at AAA because people had such high expectations of him, do you?Do you understand how silly that argument is? Make sense.

I agree GoSM. Please don't take my 3:35 post to mean I don't think he's special. I can't wait to see him in this lineup every day. I just see a lot of people taking it a bit too far IMO. He is not Harper. He is not Strasburg. He is not a 100% sure thing- especially not right away, at age 22.

"I agree GoSM. Please don't take my 3:35 post to mean I don't think he's special. I can't wait to see him in this lineup every day. I just see a lot of people taking it a bit too far IMO. He is not Harper. He is not Strasburg. He is not a 100% sure thing- especially not right away, at age 22."Now, that is the more reasonable point to make. We shall see. Soon, I hope.

"Straw man."Do you realize that every time you mention a straw man you proceed directly to erecting one of your own? You may want to make this about Espi v. Rendon, but that's not where bowdenball was coming from, and neither am I."No one is saying he will carry the offense. Not I, at least."Ah, but you're not the only person here or in the world of baseball fandom with opinions about these things, and I didn't see that anyone called you out as having feeling this way about Rendon."You may think they are better off with Espinosa than Rendon. That's fine. You are entitled to your opinion."I know, and you're entitled to frame my opinion however you like. It doesn't mean you've framed it accurately. My opinion on Rendon v. Espi is that I have concerns about Rendon's defense and I have concerns about Espi's offense."Keeping Rendon in the minors should be determined on the merits."Agreed. On both offense and defense."Do you understand how silly that argument is?"Yes. Now, find someone who's making it ."Make sense."Every time you say this, I chuckle a little. Thanks for the smiles!OK, that was fun. Almost time for the weekend!

Laddie, that's really the only point I've been making all along. The rest was just words you put in my mouth. I don't know why. Maybe because I've defended Espinosa to some degree in the past? But you were arguing with a fiction in this thread, not with me.

Laddie, here's what I really like about Rendon, he is a contact hitter that can barrel up line drives with the best in the game. My only fear is Rendon tries to be a power hitter because "people dig the longball". If he stays with working his high BABIP by busting the gaps with line drives and taking what the game gives him, he will be a high BA/OBP guy with a very good OPS.Nobody has been able to exploit any weaknesses in his swing unless he gets ultra aggressive. Bryce on the other hand changed his approach from lefty pitchers and expanded his strike zone on outside pitches that he can't reach and makes himself vulnerable in 2 strike counts giving him some poor lefty/lefty splits.Scouts will find your weaknesses and if you can't adjust, they will take advantage.

"Eric, I agree with those who have said Rendon's errors are on aggressive plays. He will be fine. He just needs to play."That may be so. My question is, how well does he need to hit in order to justify him working that out in the MLB?

"Ah, but you're not the only person here or in the world of baseball fandom with opinions about these things, and I didn't see that anyone called you out as having feeling this way about Rendon."I don't read every thread or comment, but I don'r recall reading anyone here making the claim that he will carry the offense. Shooting down an opinion that has not been stated is a straw man argument.

Eric said… "Eric, I agree with those who have said Rendon's errors are on aggressive plays. He will be fine. He just needs to play."That may be so. My question is, how well does he need to hit in order to justify him working that out in the MLB?I'd hope he's a 270+BA and 800+OPS. I remember the growing pains with Desmond. I don't think it will be that bad where anyone will be concerned. Just stay healthy and play smart Anthony!

"I don't read every thread or comment, but I don'r recall reading anyone here making the claim that he will carry the offense. Shooting down an opinion that has not been stated is a straw man argument."See, right there. You proceed from "I don't read every thread or comment" to asserting that it's an "opinion that has not been stated."Make se…Nah, I won't go there .

NatsJack in Florida said… I saw all I needed from Espinosa when he tried to bunt for a hit with 2 outs and a man on second in a game where runs where seemingly hard to come by.May 17, 2013 4:27 PM Come on, he did something similar in the playoffs. I truly believe Danny will be better when he takes a few days off and relaxes. He isn't even as bad as his stats show. He looked relieved yesterday. Davey had a convo with him and told him to chill out and it was probably after that bunt play.

Ghost, yeah, if he's hitting like Desi or Zim (sans the homers, which it sounds like isn't so much hsi thing), I might be able to deal with fielding that's somewhere between 2013 RZim and Desi…for a little while.

I dont know why Laddie and Bowdenball are arguing. You guys are kind of saying the same thing except it seems Bowden has a little more hope for Espy. I would tend to agree with Laddie. Get Rendon up here and if he stumbles, send him back.

I think Rendon will learn more playing in the majors than the minors, but he does need to play. Unfortunately, so does Tyler Moore. I'm worried they are going to [mess] that kid up keeping him sitting.

When Rendon is trying to hit a HR he will dip his back shoulder and many of those end up as can of corn flyouts.He will probably hit after a few years in the league 15 to 20 HRs. That's not bad but how's about 50 doubles a season!

EmDash, sorry I missed your question amidst all of the straw men doing battle with each other.Yes, if they want someone from Syracuse to take a start for Det, they'd have to make room on the 25-man, which would probably mean a DL stint for Det. That's why Stammen or Duke are more likely if they think that Det only needs to miss one start. His next scheduled starts would be May 20 vs. the Giants, then the 26th against the Phillies, and the 31st against the Braves. If they back date his DL stint to today, I think the first day he could rejoin the roster would be June 1. (Today being Day 1 and May 31 being Day 15.). Someone will correct me on that I'm sure if I've counted wrong or misinterpreted the rule. If they keep Det on the active roster though, they could use the off day on May 23 to extend his time off, using Stammen on May 20, and then working Det back into the rotation as late as May 30 without having to start Stammen or Duke a second time. So Davey has some options depending on how Det's recovery is going. And the good thing is that as long as Det doesn't pitch, his DL stint can be backdated to today.

2b Will Rhymes is having a nice year at Syracuse.If the Nats keep him when Rendon gets promoted, I wonder whether they'll cut ties with Carlos Rivero.He's struggling so far and has been unable to replicate his very good 2012 numbers.

Sec 3, I agree on both. TyMo needs a refresher in Syracuse to get him hot and then think about bringing him back.I'd hang on to Eury and then trade them out when TyMo is hitting again. TyMo is doing no help for the team or himself as he is playing right now.

Hey Sect222, it was nice to see you agree with me. See we can play nice. I'm trying my hardest to be nice to the Ghost and Natsjack too even tho they wont acknowledge me. They quote me without mentioning me.I'm actually with anyone who wants to swap out Espy for Rendon. Its too logical and if it doesnt work, swap em back. DUH!

Ghost,I agree with your assessment. He does get into trouble by over-swinging, on occasion. He doesn't have to change his swing as long as he let's his swing do the work for him. His K rate has gone up, either because he can still be fooled, or because he is over-swinging. The kid is smart. He will make the appropriate adjustments, and has done so at every level. Harper's swing is all over the map. He guesses, and when he guesses right, he delivers. He has made so many adjustments to that swing, it is a testament to his talent that he can still perform at such a high, consistent level.He gets in trouble with those outside pitches when he opens his shoulder. Sometimes, right after he's hit a dinger, he seems to open his shoulder in his next AB in what looks like an attempt to pull another one into the seats. And then he closes it, again, eventually, and starts taking those outside pitches the other way. I used to think he made those adjustments consciously, but now I am not so sure. I'd love to talk to the kid and find out how he does it. Maybe, like Mantle, he doesn't really know.I don't think he has a beautiful swing, at all. Looks more to me like a Rube Goldberg contraption gone haywire, with moving parts flying everywhere and somehow coming together at the point of contact.Amazing to see.

"See, right there. You proceed from "I don't read every thread or comment" to asserting that it's an "opinion that has not been stated."No, I didn't. You are making another straw man argument. Unless you have a problem with reading comprehension, and cannot tell the difference between making a statement of particular fact, followed by a generic definition of the kind of argument you like to make. Confounding the two to make a spurious point is nonsensical. Make sense.

"Get Rendon up here and if he stumbles, send him back."Yeah. It's really not that complicated. Other teams do it. The A's did it with Trout, just 2 years ago. Espinosa might be able to pull it together at AAA without the pressure of all the attention his play is getting, here and now. It worked out for Trout and the A's.

"I don't know if this has been addressed previously or not, but why not consider Rendon for second base?"The Nats have been playing Rendon at both 2nd and 3rd at Harrisburg. They appear to be thinking along the lines you suggest.

Espinosa somewhere elseNOT with a detached rotator cuff injury. They have to make the call on him right now no later than June 1st. If he gets the surgery he would then be ready for ST 2014. Otherwise he misses part of the season in rehab.